Interview: Swiss snowboarder Pat Burgener plans music career in China after Olympics

GENEVA, Feb. 12 (Xinhua) -- Swiss snowboard star and musician Pat Burgener has announced plans to shine off-piste after the Beijing 2022 Olympic Winter Games and told Xinhua his dream was to go on a music tour around China following the mega sporting event.

Even though Burgener, a two-time snowboard Olympian didn't take the podium and finished 11th in the men's halfpipe final run on Friday, he said nothing could spoil his mood as he already has several creative projects in store.

"I loved the Games, to be honest. I was super really surprised by the organization, how well it went. The people are so nice and amazing and really I just have so much fun," the 27-year old snowboarder who is also a successful musician told Xinhua in a video interview.

"It's actually a really amazing experience. I have more contact with people than the last Olympics in (South) Korea because in (South) Korea we were not close to the village. We were living on our own in small apartments on the mountain and now we have a village close to our hotel so it's amazing. I love it really."

In Friday's final snowboard halfpipe competition, Japan's Ayumu Hirano snatched the gold medal and landed the first-ever triple cork to make Olympic history, and was followed by Australian Scotty James who won silver and Swiss Jan Scherrer came in third.

Burgener said he will leave China on Sunday to return to Switzerland, with positive memories in his luggage that will last for a lifetime.

"The pipe was one of the best in the world, and there was no wind this year. It was really cool. They built a wall to stop the wind and I mean it's great, just a little bit cold for us if we're not that used to it, but it's doable, you know."

He joined Switzerland's national team at the age of 14 and landed the world's first switch backside triple cork 1440 in 2011. Burgener then competed for the Swiss team in the men's halfpipe in the 2018 Olympic Winter Games in PyeongChang where he finished 5th overall.

He also earned two bronze medals at the FIS Freestyle Ski and Snowboarding World Championships 2017 and 2019.

Describing his life in the Olympic village, he said that from a culinary perspective there was something for everyone on the menu:

"I love all the Chinese stuff. Just I'm vegetarian so I really had to be careful because a lot of food has meat in it even though it's like tofu. It's like tofu with beef. Restaurants are not the best option for me, I like to go to the buffet. We had all kind of food, it's amazing."

MUSICAL JUMPS

Besides professional snowboarding, Burgener has pursued a parallel career in music since 2014.

He emphasized that he was able to keep a healthy balance between making music and snowboarding:

"11 months ago I got injured. I've worked so hard to get back. And I'm recording an album still, I've released the first single which is going really well even in China. People are listening to it now, they love it. I get so many messages every single day."

"I really got into content creating through music and doing my own music videos, I've got my own personality now. I'm doing funny videos, they go viral everywhere."

The singer-songwriter has already released four EPs so far, including "The Route" (2018), "Icar" (2019), "Better Man" (2020) and "California Sun" (2021), and performed at festivals and venues across Switzerland, such as the Montreux Jazz Festival, Zermatt Unplugged, the Gurtenfestival, or at the Kaufleuten in Zurich.

"I definitely see a potential future in China since I never thought it would be possible before, because it's such a big market. But since the Olympics, I was so impressed. When I go to the pipe people actually know me like 'you are the guy from Instagram and social media', 'can we take a picture?'. It's crazy."

"I feel like Chinese people are really nice and kind and once they like someone, they really like a lot," Burgener said. "I think China could be great and that's why the first thing that came to my mind was like I need to do a tour in China. It would be amazing to fill up venues with these kinds of people that know me from social media and do an amazing show with a lot of fun and connection with the people." ■